Doctoral (PhD) Student Position in Monitoring and Control of 3D Printing
100%, Zurich, fixed-term
inspire AG is the leading Swiss competence centre for product innovation and advanced manufacturing. As a strategic partner of ETH Zurich, our mission is to transfer knowledge and technology from research to Swiss machine, electrical and metal industries.
The Automatic Control Laboratory (IfA) in the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering of ETH Zurich is a community of approximately 50 researchers from more than 20 countries working on the development of methods and computational tools for automation, exploring their potential for promoting our social well-being in areas such as energy systems, transportation, and industrial processes.
We are looking for a doctoral student to join our international team and contribute to our research efforts in the area of control and automation of industrial processes. They are supervised by Prof. John Lygeros and Dr. Efe Balta from Inspire AG in collaboration with Prof. Alisa Rupenyan from the Zurich University of Applied Science (ZHAW).
Project background
Advanced manufacturing is central to sustainable automation with high-impact opportunities in both research and society. Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, processes offer unprecedented flexibility and productivity to modern manufacturing systems. Additive manufacturing processes involve complex physical and chemical interactions that need to be executed with high precision and minimal interruptions throughout a life cycle.
Incorporating predictive models and advanced control using data opens up exciting new possibilities in this domain. The research activities of this project will bring forward the integration of novel methods at the intersection of advanced control, optimization, manufacturing science, robotics, and machine learning. The doctoral student position we are looking to fill aim to explore the interplay between these areas.
Job description
The main goal of your work is to develop new methods and toolboxes for advanced control of extrusion 3D printing processes. We will use advanced control methods in conjunction with digital twin technology to develop the next generation of additive manufacturing technologies. We are looking for motivated doctoral students to contribute to this effort.
The envisioned research will tackle the broad topic of “Process control and digital twin development for extrusion 3D printing”:
- Development and improvement of novel in-situ sensing techniques to be used in advanced process control methods.
- Learning-based and adaptive control methods for extrusion process control and precision printing.
- Digital twin-driven methods for online process monitoring, process validation, and prediction using modern AI tools.
Profile
- Master’s degree (university) in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or a related field.
- Background on control and systems theory, signal processing, and optimization is a plus.
- Background on 3D printing, process modeling, and systems design is a plus.
- An excellent knowledge (written/oral) of English is a must. Knowledge of German is a plus.
Required people skills
- Highly self-organized and structured way of working and solution orientation.
- High motivation and willingness to learn new skills.
- High level of teamwork, positive work attitude and creativity.
- Willingness to supervise and support student projects.
Workplace
Workplace
We offer
We offer a full-time PhD position at the ETH Automatic Control Lab (IfA) jointly with the Control and Automation group at inspire AG. The project is part of a large group effort involving ETH, inspire AG, and ZHAW and brings in multiple engineers and PhD students to continuously develop and implement novel research findings on real-world systems. The position is suitable for those interested in developing novel system design and control methods for solving real-world problems.
We plan to demonstrate the results on custom-built real-world 3D printing setups available at IfA and inspire. For a large-scale proof of concept, we will implement the results on a testbed combining robotics and 3D printing currently developed at ZHAW, in collaboration with industry partners.
Curious? So are we.
Please send your full application with reference “PhD in 3D Printing Control” to our HR department (hr@inspire.ch), including the following material:
- A short statement of research interests and objectives
- A CV including past research work and projects
- 2-3 reference letters/contacts
- One publication/thesis
- Transcripts of all degrees in English
Applications received by September 8 will receive full attention. Please note that we only accept applications submitted via (hr@inspire.ch). Applications sent to other emails or postal services will not be considered.
Please also visit our websites www.inspire.ch and https://control.ee.ethz.ch.
Curious? So are we.
Please send your full application with reference “PhD in 3D Printing Control” to our HR department (hr@inspire.ch), including the following material:
- A short statement of research interests and objectives
- A CV including past research work and projects
- 2-3 reference letters/contacts
- One publication/thesis
- Transcripts of all degrees in English
Applications received by September 8 will receive full attention. Please note that we only accept applications submitted via (hr@inspire.ch). Applications sent to other emails or postal services will not be considered.
Please also visit our websites www.inspire.ch and https://control.ee.ethz.ch.